Monarch boys fall in home tennis meet to Heelan

The Denison-Schleswig boys’ varsity tennis team had a tough day on their home courts on Thursday, April 11, falling 9-0 to Sioux City Heelan.

“Heelan has a freshman playing in the #1 position that is very good. It really helped their depth and made the rest of the matchups that much tougher,” said Monarchs Head Coach Aaron Ratliff.

He listed the following highlights for his team.

Danny Saldana played a competitive match by forcing his opponent to hit some difficult shots in the wind. He ended up just barely losing 6-8.

Blaine Brodsky and Braden Curnyn continued to play good doubles despite the 6-8 loss.

Owen Galvin continued to dominate at the J.V. level with his 8-1 win.

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J.V tennis boys avenge losses to Shenandoah

After a disappointing 0-9 finish against Shenandoah on Friday, April 12, the Denison-Schleswig J.V. boys avenged some losses in head-to-head matchups with Shenandoah’s top three players on Saturday, April 13.

The event was Shenandoah’s inaugural J.V. tournament.

Two Denison-Schleswig players placed in the tournament’s top flight. Owen Galvin placed first and Grant Fink placed third.

Denison-Schleswig’s seven players were divided into a top flight A and lower flight B, which had its own singles tournaments.

Other teams in the tournament were Abraham Lincoln, Audubon, Clarinda and Thomas Jefferson.

Owen Galvin registered four wins en route to first place, including a 6-3 win over teammate Grant Fink in the semifinals.

“Owen was athletic enough to defensively get many of his opponents’ difficult shots back, while offensively putting his volleys away at the net. He works hard to get his points and it paid off,” said Head Coach Aaron Ratliff.

Grant Fink’s only loss in the tournament was to Galvin.

“Grant played fantastic today,” said Ratliff. “In his final match he avenged a loss to Shenandoah’s #1 J.V. player the day earlier, by winning 6-0. It is a shame he drew into the bottom half of the draw with Owen. They probably would have finished first and second instead of first and third.”

John Parr and Tyson Stoppel won their first matches and lost their second.

“t was good to see John and Tyson pick up wins today. In tournament play that doesn’t always happen,” said Ratliff.

Flight B players for Denison-Schleswig were Jessie Saldana, Ryder Lee and Blaze Palmer. Each dropped their first-round matches.

“Jessie hit many good deep shots against his opponent and showed some promise,” Ratliff commented. “Ryder played good at the net but his forehand wasn’t as consistent as I’ve seen in the past. Blaze shows so much potential as a beginning player. He has a fast serve and is not afraid to stroke the ball with power. He is going to keep getting better and better.”

Doubles wins launch Monarch girls to a tennis victory

The Denison-Schleswig varsity girls swept their doubles matches against Shenandoah on Friday, April 12, to win register a 6-3 win in a tennis dual.

“We knew coming into today that it was going to be a tough matchup,” said Head Coach Spencer Pauley. “I figured it was going to come down to doubles and that is what happened. We split 3-3 in singles but were able to get all three wins in doubles. I am proud of the effort we showed against a solid opponent in Shenandoah. Everyone on the team played their part and it is awesome to see the team have success.”

Pauley listed the following highlights from the dual.

Kiana Schulz’s dominant singles play continued where she won 8-3. She has proven to be one of the best players in our area and is only going to continue to strengthen her game as the season goes on.

Abby Gutierrez lost a close singles match. She has been in some tough matches recently which will only help her in the long run. Abby has been playing at a very high level.

Claire Leinen picked up a doubles win with Kiana. Claire’s shots have been very powerful which is awesome to watch. She is hitting it the hardest on the team right now.

Abbey Meseck picked up a huge singles win for us. She was down 4-7 and ended up winning five straight. I believe that was the match that gave us the momentum.

Zoey Berry has been playing phenomenal tennis. She has been solid all year for us picking up the win today 8-3.

Lynnae Johnson picked up a win with Abby Gutierrez in doubles. They are always a fun team to watch and play well together.

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